I’m starting to prep for Thanksgiving 2025, but I literally cannot be convinced to roast a turkey this year. So instead I’m doing a mashed up hybrid of classic British sausage rolls, holiday turkey flavors, and the architecture of a Wellington that can be dunked into a vat of gravy. Because of course.
Alongside the turkey Wellington Franken-rolls, I’m also making:
- Turkey gravy
- Sweet potato casserole
- Duck fat roasted potatoes
- Roasted asparagus and Brussels sprouts
- Classic cranberry sauce
So, let’s get started!
Snapshot
- Implements: mixing bowls; plastic wrap; rimmed baking sheet; parchment paper; sharp knife; instant-read thermometer
- Oven setting: 400°F / 200°C (about 22–28 minutes)
- Batch size: 4 hearty main-dish rolls (a reasonable amount for weeknight dinner testing at my house, which I’ll double for the day-of)
Ingredients
Thanksgiving-y turkey sausage
- 1 lb (450 g) 85% or 93% lean ground turkey
- ⅓ cup panko or fine dry breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp milk, cream, or chicken/turkey stock
- 1½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (reduce slightly if using fine salt)
- 1½ tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp black pepper
- Several grates of fresh nutmeg
- 1 large clove garlic, very finely minced or microplaned
- 1–1½ tbsp melted butter or neutral oil (use the full amount if using 93% lean turkey, less if 85%)
Stuffing “coat”
- 1 box Stove Top Traditional Sage or Turkey flavors work best
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- ½ small yellow onion, very finely diced
- 1 small rib celery, finely diced
- 1 large egg
Puff pastry wrapper
- 1 standard sheet all-butter puff pastry (≈10×10 in / 25×25 cm), thawed but cold
- 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water or milk (for egg wash)
- Optional: flaky salt or sesame/poppy seeds for topping
To serve
- Turkey gravy, piping hot
- Cranberry sauce (not the canned kind)
Method
Make the turkey sausage
In a bowl, combine turkey, panko, 1 egg, milk/stock, salt, sage, thyme, pepper, nutmeg, garlic, and 1–1½ tbsp melted butter/oil. Mix gently until cohesive and slightly tacky (not pasty). Cook a tiny test patty to check seasoning; adjust salt/herbs if needed. Chill while you make the stuffing.
Cook, cool, and set the Stove Top
In a saucepan, melt 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Sauté onion and celery until softened and lightly golden at the edges (5–7 minutes). Add about 75–80% of the liquid the box calls for; bring to a boil. Stir in Stove Top, cover, and take off heat to hydrate.
Cool it quickly: spread the stuffing on a sheet tray and refrigerate until cool to the touch (15–20 minutes).
Bind lightly, then set: beat 1 egg and fold it through the entire batch of cooled stuffing. Spread in a thin layer (¼") on the tray and bake at 350°F / 175°C for 6–10 minutes, just to drive off excess moisture and lightly set the egg (not to brown). Cool 5 minutes.
Form sausage cores and wrap in stuffing
Divide the sausage into 4 equal portions. On plastic wrap or parchment, roll each into a log 4–5 inches long and 1 inch thick.
On fresh plastic wrap, press a thin rectangle of the set stuffing, ¼ inch thick and just shorter than the sausage. Lay a sausage log on top and use the wrap to lift and close the stuffing around it like sushi, sealing into a neat cylinder. Twist ends gently to firm. Chill the four stuffing‑wrapped logs 15–20 minutes (or 8–10 minutes in the freezer) until firm.
- If the stuffing feels loose: sprinkle in 2–4 tbsp panko (or a handful of dry Stove Top crumbs), fold, rest 5 minutes, and proceed.
Wrap in puff pastry
Heat oven to 400°F / 200°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Roll the pastry to about 10×12 inches and cut into 4 equal rectangles. For each chilled log: place in the center, brush one long edge of pastry with egg wash, fold the other edge over, overlap to seal, then roll seam‑side down. Leave the ends open (sausage‑roll style). Cut 2–3 small diagonal vents on top; brush tops/sides with egg wash. Optional sprinkle: flaky salt or seasme/poppy seeds.
Bake and rest
Bake 22–28 minutes, rotating the tray halfway, until pastry is deeply golden and the sausage center reads 165°F / 74°C on an instant‑read thermometer. If tops brown too fast while the center lags, loosely tent with foil for the final minutes. Rest 5–10 minutes before serving. Dunk in hot turkey gravy.
Notes, swaps, and guardrails
Keep layers thin: stuffing at ¼" max; thicker layers slow cooking and risk soggy pastry.
Balance juiciness vs. grease: with 85% turkey, 1–1½ tbsp added fat is plenty. If the tray looks oily, use the low end next time.
Egg wash alternatives: milk or cream works if you don’t want to crack another egg.
Make‑ahead: assemble through wrapping and cutting, then chill well or freeze on a tray. Bake from chilled (add time as needed) and always verify 165°F at the center.
Why the panade?
Breadcrumbs + egg + a little liquid = a panade (moist bread paste) that keeps lean turkey from being dry or rubbery. This is exactly how a lot of turkey sausage roll recipes get a juicy texture.
Keeping layers thin
The key constraint: when you wrap it around the sausage, try to keep the stuffing layer to about ¼ inch thick. More than ~⅜ inch and you start needing longer cook times and risking soggy pastry.
Making everything extra-savory (optional upgrades)
Once the base works, you can stack flavor:
- Bacon + mushrooms in the filling: Fry bacon, onion, mushrooms, and garlic together, then mix this into the turkey and/or stuffing; it adds fat and that “roasty pan drippings” vibe.
- Cheese boost: A handful of finely grated Parmesan or Gruyère folded into the stuffing portion you’re using for the rolls will turn up savoriness without screaming “cheese.”
- Herb butter glaze: Melt butter with chopped sage/thyme and a tiny bit of garlic; brush over the rolls in the last 5 minutes of baking.
- Supercharged gravy: Whisk a spoonful of soy sauce or Worcestershire into your turkey gravy for extra depth, or simmer it briefly with a few dried mushrooms, then strain.
Make-ahead notes
Sausage rolls in general freeze incredibly well—many recipes assemble, then freeze the unbaked rolls and bake straight from frozen or after a brief thaw.
For this version:
- You can fully assemble up through wrapping in pastry and cutting, then freeze on a tray until solid and transfer to a bag.
- Bake from chilled (not rock hard) so the center cooks through before the pastry burns; add extra time and rely on the thermometer.
All-butter pastry
Use all-butter puff pastry if you can find it; it makes a big flavor difference in all the sausage roll recipes. The texture and taste are noticeably better than standard puff pastry.